Blue Bottle, which now has more than 50 locations, has spent the
past 15 years winning over coffee snobs since being founded in
Oakland, California, in the early 2000s. The chain is known for
its freshly roasted beans and coffee shops, which have become a
Silicon Valley favorite.

The deal lends Nestlé Blue Bottle's hip, coffee-snob-approved
reputation. And, it gives the small chain access to huge amounts
of cash from the largest food company in the world.

"My goal as CEO has been to secure a sustainable future for Blue
Bottle Coffee that would enable it to flourish for many years to
come," Blue Bottle Coffee CEO Bryan Meehan said in a statement.
"I'm excited to work with Nestlé to take a long-term approach to
becoming a global leader in specialty coffee."

source

Melia Robinson/Business Insider

Blue Bottle said in a joint statement with Nestlé that it planned
to open 55 stores by the end of this year, compared with just 29
at the end of 2016. There are Blue Bottle stores in the Bay Area,
Los Angeles, New York City, Tokyo, and Washington, DC.

Blue Bottle has raised $120 million over the past 15 years from
investors including Morgan Stanley, Fidelity Management and
Research, and True Ventures as well as celebrities including
Bono, Jared Leto, and Tony Hawk.

Starbucks executives have said independent, trendy coffee shops
are the
biggest threat to their business. With Blue Bottle backed by
a company with billions of dollars in annual revenue, the trendy
chain has the potential to become a major threat to the coffee
giant.